On 17th May 1947 the first round of the inaugural British Hill Climb Championship was held at Boíness and during the 40s and 50ís crowds up to 10,000 people flocked in to view the hill climb. By the time we got home on Sunday night I felt as if we had been there since these heady days over 60 years ago, so much had been crammed into a couple of days, and the crowds who attended over the weekend, if not of the numbers of years ago, certainly filled the venue.

It is hard to believe that this event was only resurrected in August 2008 following a reunion of cars and enthusiasts in 2007 when they got together in front of Kinneil House to mark the 60th Anniversary of the first event.

We arrived on Saturday morning at the impressive location of Kinneil Estate and after negotiating the puddles from the early torrential rain we found our pitch and set about manoeuvring the cars into the tight space before erecting our events shelter, flags and banners. All was soon in place thanks to the efforts of everyone, well nearly everyone as one unnamed soul found the smell of bacon rolls too much, and we settled down to await the start of the trial runs and the influx of the viewing public.

Soon the site was filled with the sound of engines and we headed off to view the first practice run, hoping to dodge the showers.
The morning ended with the arrival of our cooks bringing along a well needed lunch.

Into the afternoon with improved weather as the pipe bands struck up before the next set of practice runs began and we were able to wander through the array of display cars as well as view the diversity of hill climb cars.
As the afternoon drew to a close we packed up and headed off to prepare for a social evening.

We soon gathered together again at the Richmond Hotel where, thanks to the negotiating skills of Maria, we were welcomed with a glass of champagne before settling down to an excellent dinner.
After dinner was concluded we were entertained to some anecdotes and folk music by Ian Scott who once again proved to be an enjoyable addition to our events before settling down to some serious conversation about the cars which had been on view during the day.

Sunday morning dawned bright and sunny, I wish I had been the same, and we were soon back at Kinneil House with cars lined up and flags flying advertising the MX5 owners club.
Sunshine always helps an outdoor event and it was soon clear that the event was going to be very busy in the warm bright conditions when, as soon as the track crossing was opened, large numbers of spectators surged through to view the large array of display cars.

4 of our members along with passengers took part in the display runs up the hill climb track which gave them a flavour of what the track was like to drive.

As lunch time approached so did the noise in the sky as the last flying Vulcan Bomber gave a fly past following its visit to Leucharís Air Show. This is an impressive aircraft and the site of it flying over Kinneil House is to be remembered especially being the last of this aircraft type which carried out such a daunting mission to bomb the runway at Stanley during The Falklands War.

A varied afternoon was spent wandering around the display cars and watching the hill climb finals although the sun became too much for some as they reverted to ice creams or snoozing in the afternoon sun.
The cars in the display areas were impressive but there were at least as many worth viewing in the public car park so it was worth a wander over there in the afternoon. The area was filled with sound all day from the noise of car engines, the roar of Vulcan engines to the distant whistle of the Steam Railway engines which were on show near the paddock including an appearance of Thomas the Tank Engine which was the highlight of Jimís weekend.

At the end of an excellent weekend which filled our cameras it was soon time to pack up and head off for an early evening meal before saying farewells and getting home to rest the weary legs and download the images.

A very successful weekend which I hope all our members enjoyed and certainly an event worth considering for a regular place in our calendar.